Archbishop dismisses criticism over the role the Church played during the dictatorship

Archbishop Ieronymos has shot back at comments made by Education Minister Nikos Filis who cast doubt over the role the Church of Greece played during the country’s military dictatorship in 1967-74.

In a letter to the minister, the Archbishop said the church’s role during the dictatorship was “consistent and irreproachable” and dismissed, what he described as, interpretations informed by the ideological bias of its critics. He also rejected speculation that the church had collaborated with the colonels running Greece at the time

Speaking during a TV interview, Filis, who accused the Church of contributing to society’s moral demise, wondered whose side it was on during the dictatorship and the Nazi occupation of the country during World War II.

The latest public spat follows a row between Ieronymos and Filis over how religion is taught in schools.